Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Bloc regaining support in Quebec.

This is from the Winnipeg Sun. The Bloc may help prevent the Conservatives from gaining a majority but the debate tonight may perhaps change things a bit. However, Duceppe is an excellent and experienced debater.The Harris Decima poll cited does not really show much change federally from other recent polls.However the Quebec poll shows a thirteen percent lead over the Tories.

OTTAWA — The Bloc Quebecois is regaining support that eroded in mid-campaign, offering a new Quebec challenge to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a new poll suggests.Nationally, however, the Conservative lead over the Liberals has risen to 12 points.The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey puts the Tories at 36 per cent in popular support, with the Liberals off slightly at 24 per cent.The NDP is at 17 per cent — off a percentage point — while the Greens are steady at 11 per cent and the Bloc is up a point at 10 per centThe changes are within the poll’s margin of error.In Quebec, with a higher margin of error, the Bloc leads with 40 per cent, a gain of three points, while the Tories trail at 27 per cent and the Liberals at 15.The poll put the NDP in fourth place at 11 per cent support and the Greens at five per cent.Harper’s get-tough promises on crime — especially a pledge to make life sentences available for 14 year olds — and his cuts to culture spending seem to have undermined his early gains in Quebec and revitalized the Bloc.The data indicates that the televised debates will be high-stakes proposition for all the party leaders, said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson.“For Mr. Harper, a majority is quite plausible, but to achieve it, he needs to stop a resurgent Bloc and ideally further depress Liberal support in Ontario,” he said.Green Leader Elizabeth May has a chance to solidify her support and Jack Layton of the NDP needs to translate his high personal ratings into gains for his party, Anderson said.Liberal Leader Stephane Dion faces the biggest debate challenge, he added.“He simply cannot afford to lose more ground; he must weaken the Conservatives, recapture support lost to the NDP and co-opt Green party support.”The national poll surveyed a total of 1,266 people Sunday through Tuesday and is considered accurate to within 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.